A single sentence from Akihara Kagura drastically changed Kabuto's expression.
Kabuto quickly lowered his head, starting to think rapidly about how much trouble they would face after falling out with Orochimaru: "Should Dean Nonou and I prepare to defect? Orochimaru won't possibly let us go..."
"Dean Nonou doesn't need to."
Akihara Kagura shook his head and whispered, "No matter whether I was a child from the Konoha Orphanage in the past or not, from today onwards, I've got to regard myself as someone impersonating a child of the orphanage, pretending to do so to seize the position of Hokage of Konoha..."
"..."
Kabuto fell silent.
At this moment, Kabuto didn't even know how to respond.
Why go through all this pain?
Kagura has done so much for him and Yakushi Nonou; they have finally reunited with difficulty, and now they're going to part again?
"Is Orochimaru going to use Dean Nonou and me to threaten you?"
Kabuto could only sit in his chair, seriously contemplating: "Why sever ties with Orochimaru? Is it because he wants to seize your body?"
"You know too?"
"Of course."
Kabuto nodded and continued, "I, Akado Yoroi, and Tsurugi Misumi formed a team, and our main mission was to participate in the Chunin Exam and help Orochimaru recruit some talents. I originally thought he wanted to strengthen his forces, but I didn't expect him to straightforwardly tell me he needs some talents as spare vessels..."
"Do you think I should give myself to him?"
Akihara Kagura gazed at Kabuto and softly said, "As long as he takes over my body, Orochimaru won't trouble you anymore."
"..."
Kabuto quickly shook his head and said quietly, "The dean wouldn't agree either. She's already very remorseful for the mistakes of the past. You've already sacrificed a lot for us. I will make arrangements for the dean to hide as soon as possible..."
"You deal with it."
Akihara Kagura looked at Kabuto, directly entrusting him with the task: "Make Orochimaru think I'm not a child from the orphanage, make him believe I'm a scheming person, let him see that I don't care about the life or death of you and Dean Yakushi Nonou, let him understand I won't give up my body for you and the dean..."
"That's difficult."
Kabuto furrowed his brow tightly, took off his glasses, and gently wiped the mist on the lenses: "Back then, for me and Dean Nonou, you risked your life to become Orochimaru's spy and joined Danzo's ranks. Orochimaru wouldn't easily believe it..."
"Especially..."
"At this point in time."
"Orochimaru will definitely suspect this is a conspiracy."
Kabuto put his glasses back on and looked at Akihara Kagura, who was sitting on his desk, "Unless one of Dean Nonou or I dies at your hands."
"I..."
"Dean Nonou..."
"One of us must sacrifice."
"Only in this way will Orochimaru believe there are no bonds between us, maybe even hatred, and at least one person can survive."
Kabuto didn't say some things out loud.
Actually, from the three of them, one person had to sacrifice; either Akihara Kagura sacrifices himself so he and Dean Nonou can survive, or one of him and Dean Nonou must sacrifice...
However...
Kabuto understood.
No matter what, Akihara Kagura must not be sacrificed.
While Kabuto was undergoing an intense internal struggle, thinking about when Dean Yakushi Nonou and he would choose to sacrifice, Akihara Kagura's face drooped.
"So troublesome... Why does someone have to die?"
Akihara Kagura casually grabbed a pear from Kabuto's desk and took a bite: "We can't die, maybe I should find some time to kill Orochimaru! After all, he's no match for me..."
"Wait a minute..."
Kabuto's heart suddenly trembled, feeling that his emotions were somewhat strange: "Did you just say you could kill Orochimaru?"
"He's no match for me."
"Then why not kill him?"
"Because he still has his uses, and he also has control over many useful Kinjutsus, this person should be killed a few more times."
"Alright, I thought..."
"Thought what?"
"Nothing."
Kabuto's mood somewhat relaxed.
That guy, Akihara Kagura, surely wouldn't mess with him in such matters, would he?
Yet...
This guy has precedent for secretly sacrificing himself!
Kabuto was actually quite worried that Akihara Kagura would sacrifice himself and said softly, "I'll think about infiltrating Orochimaru's side to see if I can steal his knowledge, and at the same time, monitor his actions..."
"That works too."
"Perhaps I don't need to hurry so much either."
Akihara Kagura finished that pear, drew out a piece of paper to wipe the pear juice off the corner of his mouth, and smiled eerily: "Konoha is about to have a major event soon; maybe after a few days, Orochimaru will have a new target, and he won't be focused on my body anymore?"
"But..."
"We still must prepare thoroughly."
"Yes..."
Kabuto nodded, and the lens of his glasses reflected a glint of light from the sunlight streaming in through the window: "We all want to sacrifice ourselves, but after going through so much difficulty to survive, we should live well, making sure everyone lives on..."